Rules

Three-player Barbu

Credits

Three-handed version developed by Noel Leaver and played for over ten years. Faster and luckier than the four-player game; three rubbers even it out.

What changes

• 48-card pack: the 2s are removed. Each player gets 16 cards.
• The player to the dealer's left is declarer, and the deal rotates after each hand.
• A rubber is 7 hands and each contract is played once: one player declares three times, the other two twice.
• Three rubbers are often played so each has a turn at declaring first.

Scoring

• No hearts — −2 per heart, ace of hearts −6, −28 in all. No heart lead unless holding nothing else.
• No king of hearts — −21. Same lead restriction.
• No queens — −6 per queen, −24.
• No tricks — −2 per trick, −32.
• No last three — third from last −5, last but one −10, last −15, −30 in all.
• Dominoes — +45 first out, +15 second, −5 last, +55 in all. Ace high.
• Trumps — +5 per trick, +80. Must overtake with a trump if possible.

Doubling

Each player must double the declarer at least twice over the 7 hands: the first declarer has to double on 2 of their 4 non-declaring hands, the others on 2 of their 5. The declarer can only redouble, and only the declarer can be doubled in the positive contracts.

Tip

As the first declarer is also the last, they want to keep an easy contract for the end. For the other two it is the opposite: better to leave them the harder one, since on the last hand they can double the declarer with a good hand, while with a poor hand the declarer cannot double them.

Everything else follows the classic Barbu rules.